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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29522685">Our Best Days Are Yet Unknown</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_in_a_trenchcoat/pseuds/fangirl_in_a_trenchcoat'>fangirl_in_a_trenchcoat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Good Parent Ray Molina, Kid Fic, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and the kids are adorable, but things are happening, there's not much of a plot, they’re all good parents, this is just pure fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:06:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,634</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29522685</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_in_a_trenchcoat/pseuds/fangirl_in_a_trenchcoat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're not growing up, are you?" Luke cooed at Emily just as she finished her bottle.</p><p>"Well-" Julie tried to say, but Luke was too busy living some kind of parental crisis at twenty eight years old in the kitchen.</p><p>"You're five months old, we still have at least four years left until you're tidying up your room," he said holding her up against his shoulder.</p><p>"Okay." Julie sighed, shaking her head as she went back to eating her breakfast.</p><p>"Dad! I can't reach my books on the shelf!" Rose shouted from the top of the stairs.</p><p>Julie looked back at Luke. "See? Your daughter needs you!" she exaggerated only a little bit.</p><p>"Oh my God," Luke whispered and it was actually so precious, Julie couldn't help but smile. "I'm coming!" he called back.</p><p>"Give me the baby," Julie said, but Luke shook his head.</p><p>"No, I need quality time, every second that goes by brings us closer to college," he said as he walked over to the stairs.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson &amp; Alex Mercer &amp; Julie Molina &amp; Luke Patterson &amp; Reggie Peters &amp; Willie, Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Reggie Peters, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>231</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Our Best Days Are Yet Unknown</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Julie was woken up by a loud wail. She sat up on the bed, blinking her eyes drowsily and got up, moving to the crib next to it.</p><p>"Hey," she said quietly, stretching her hands and taking the crying baby in her arms. "Hi," she said again looking at her with a smile. "What's wrong?" she asked as she rubbed her back, like she could answer. God, that would be amazing, wouldn't it?</p><p>She started pacing around the room, rubbing the baby's back soothingly. "Shh," she hushed her daughter until the cries turned into whimpers and she finally calmed down against Julie's shoulder.</p><p>"There you go," she whispered looking down at her. She had quietened down, but she didn't seem interested in falling back to sleep. "So, it's one of those nights, huh?" she said with a small smile. Little Emily seemed really entranced by one of Julie's curls as she grabbed it and pulled slightly.</p><p>"Okay," Julie said, softly moving her little hand away, "do you wanna go for a walk? I know a great place down the hallway." She looked down at Emily with a smile who was just happy to be held by her mom.</p><p>"I'll take that as a yes," Julie said reaching into the crib and grabbing Emily's pacifier that had fallen off. She put it back in the baby's mouth and opened her bedroom door.</p><p>She quietly started walking down the hall, whispering to her daughter. "This is your abuelo's room," she said pointing at her dad's closed door, "but we really shouldn't wake him up because he has to work in the morning and it is 3 am," she added with a grin that made Emily move giddily against her as if the whole situation was just hilarious. "And he got you this beautiful purple onesie that is so soft and you wear it when you go to sleep. And in other times during the day, but that's okay, how many wardrobe changes can you have in a day, right?"</p><p>Emily grabbed one of Julie's curls again, not tugging at it this time, just leaning her head back on her shoulder and enjoying the walk.</p><p>"And this used to be tío Carlos' room when we were younger," Julie continued. The door was only slightly ajar and she gave it a little push, careful not to make any noise. She smiled at the sight that welcomed her. Luke was asleep on the bed, his arm around Rose, their four year old daughter. He was supposed to read her a bedtime story so <em>she</em> could fall asleep, but it really wasn't the first time Luke had fallen asleep next to her.</p><p>"And here's daddy and Rosie who are peacefully sleeping like we were," she said even quieter. It seemed to be enough to grab Emily's attention though because she turned to look at them, leaving Julie's hair. She made a small sound, pointing at them and Julie panicked for one second that they were going to wake up, but thankfully nothing happened. Emily's head fell back against her shoulder and Julie looked at her to see her eyes half closed. Oh thank God.</p><p>She slowly backed away, closing the door a bit more as she did and walked back to her old room as well. She put Emily back inside her crib where she quickly fell asleep again and she fell on her bed equally as tired. They'd been staying in her childhood home for a couple of weeks now since they were in the process of moving and their old place wasn’t working out with a four year old and a five month old. They hadn’t signed on on a new place yet, but they’d found one that seemed pretty nice.</p><p>Julie had missed this house. They were always visiting, but she hadn't stayed in it for a long time in a while. To be honest, it was more than a while. She'd been over on and off during college and then had come back for three months before she and Luke had moved in together. The band's success had sky rocketed, they'd gone on a tour and one year later Rose was born. Four years later came Emily and now Julie of <em>Julie and the Phantoms </em>was twenty eight, sleeping in her childhood bedroom and so, so tired. She didn't even remember when it'd been the last time she'd slept through the whole night, it seemed like a distant dream right now...</p><p>She wrapped the blanket around her again and closed her eyes hoping that everyone would stay asleep for the rest of the night.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Julie woke up to an incoherent babbling and slight protesting coming a few feet away from her. She turned around and looked at the crib next to her bed where Emily was waving her arms and legs around obviously not enjoying her confinement. When she realized Julie was awake she moved her hands towards her, demanding to be let out.</p><p>Julie chuckled as she got up and took her out, holding her up. "Good morning," she said with a smile. Emily made a happy sound bouncing up and down. "Okay, let's get ready for breakfast, shall we?"</p><p>She changed Emily's diaper and put her in a pink onesie, courtesy of uncle Alex. She walked outside, hearing Luke's voice before she could even climb down the stairs.</p><p>"Some chocolate chips," he said.</p><p>"Yes," Rose agreed.</p><p>"And syrup," he continued as Julie started going down the stairs.</p><p>"Yes," Rose agreed again, excited.</p><p>"And some pop corn!"</p><p>"No!" Rose said, giggling.</p><p>"What? Why not?" Luke said, feigning confusion.</p><p>"You can't, daddy," she said, still laughing just as Julie walked towards the kitchen. Luke was leaning against the counter looking at Rose who was sitting on the table eating a pancake.</p><p>"Can't what?" Julie asked making them both turn around and face her.</p><p>"Mommy!" Rose called out, abandoning her pancake and running over to Julie, hugging her legs. "It's Saturday!"</p><p>"It is!" Julie agreed with a grin, knowing what that meant.</p><p>"She left me," Luke said with a pout, making Julie roll her eyes fondly. Emily made grabby hands towards Luke pushing slightly against Julie. "Aw, yes, come here," he said taking her over and booping her nose with his finger, making her giggle. Sometimes Julie was honestly stunned at how they'd created two so perfect human beings.</p><p>Emily put her hands over Luke's face, almost poking his eye out in the process, making Julie chuckle. "You made breakfast!" she said while moving around to take out the formula to make Emily's milk.</p><p>"Yes and I helped!" Rose said, following Julie around, her dark curls bouncing around as she did. "Daddy said to put pop corn on the pancake!" </p><p>"I believe it's perfect," Luke said as he sat down with Emily on his lap.</p><p>"You should keep eating before he gets the corn out," Julie stage whispered to her. Rose's eyes widened and she ran back to her seat, resuming eating her pancake. Emily was trying to grab an orange from the middle of the table, making a noise of protest when she couldn't reach it. Luke brought it closer and she took it in her hands excited only to throw it on the floor a couple of seconds later.</p><p>Luke looked down at her with a raised eyebrow as she tried to reach for the orange on the floor. "That didn't work out great," he said with a small smile as he grabbed the orange again. Emily tried to take it from him. "If I give it to you, you won't throw it back down, right?" he asked, looking at her with a serious expression that in Julie's eyes was anything but serious.</p><p>Emily was still making grabby hands, so Luke gave her the orange again, excitedly taking it back. Julie had taken out a baby bottle putting the milk inside and checking the temperature on her arm. She was about to give Luke the bottle when she heard a soft thump and turned around to see the orange on the floor again. She tried to hold back a chuckle and failed.</p><p>"Honey, it's not very productive to keep throwing the orange on the floor if you want to keep the orange," Luke said. Julie handed him the bottle with a smile and now Emily had something better to focus on than the discarded orange on the floor.</p><p>Julie came over the other side, sitting down and taking a couple of pancakes on her plate too. She put some syrup on them and took a bite. "Wow, this is really good," she said with a smile, looking at Rose.</p><p>"You like it?" she said, grinning. "I put everything in the bowl and I helped mix them together and then dad flipped the pancakes."</p><p>"You did a great job, I love it," she said.</p><p>"When are the others coming?" she asked, practically vibrating with energy already. She got that from her dad.</p><p>"Well, it is 8 am..." Luke said as Emily shifted a little against him, but eventually kept drinking her milk.</p><p>"It is?" Julie asked surprised, not having looked at the time. "We slept in!"</p><p>"A depressing but true sentence," he said. "But it will still be a while, baby."</p><p>"Noo, why? I've been waiting sooo long for this," Rose whined, prolonging the o even though the time period in question had been about three days.</p><p>"Maybe you could go tidy up your room? Time will fly away," Julie offered, knowing full well how all of Rose's toys were scattered on the floor.</p><p>"It's tío's room," Rose said innocently.</p><p>"It's not tío's toys all over the floor," Julie said. "How are you going to play with Eric if you can't find anything?"</p><p>That seemed to catch her attention as she finished her pancake. "Okay," she said reluctantly, "but you have to call and tell them to hurry." She stared at both her and Luke, trying to retain a serious expression, but only ending up looking adorable.</p><p>"Okay, I will call them," Julie reassured her.</p><p>"Okay," Rose said pleased with her answer and got up, running upstairs to clean her toys.</p><p>"That was easy," Luke said, sounding suspicious, but then his eyes widened. "Is she growing up? She can't grow up, she's a baby!"</p><p>"Luke, you're <em>holding</em> a baby," Julie said amused. "And Rose is four not fourteen, relax. I'm sure she'll keep leaving her toys on the floor and avoid cleaning them up, don't worry."</p><p>"You're not growing up, are you?" Luke cooed at Emily just as she finished her bottle.</p><p>"Well-" Julie tried to say, but Luke was too busy living some kind of parental crisis at twenty eight years old in the kitchen.</p><p>"You're five months old, we still have at least four years left until you're tidying up your room," he said holding her up against his shoulder.</p><p>"Okay." Julie sighed, shaking her head as she went back to eating her breakfast.</p><p>"Dad! I can't reach my books on the shelf!" Rose shouted from the top of the stairs.</p><p>Julie looked back at Luke. "See? Your daughter needs you!" she exaggerated only a little bit.</p><p>"Oh my God," Luke whispered and it was actually so precious, Julie couldn't help but smile. "I'm coming!" he called back.</p><p>"Give me the baby," Julie said, but Luke shook his head.</p><p>"No, I need quality time, every second that goes by brings us closer to college," he said as he walked over to the stairs. Julie looked after him for a couple of seconds, still smiling.</p><p>It wasn't always something big, sometimes it just took small moments like this that she cherised. Every day it was something different. And she could understand Luke's fears, really, but the girls were still so young and they still had so many things to live through with them... Julie was really looking forward to all of them.</p><p>She finished eating and started cleaning up, taking her phone out to make the call she'd promised. She dialed the number, putting it on speaker and moved around, gathering the rest of the plates.</p><p>"Hello!" came Alex's voice.</p><p>"I didn't wake you, did I?" Julie asked.</p><p>"At 8:30?" Alex sounded amused. "Hey, remember when we used to sleep in on weekends? And that meant like 11? 12?"</p><p>"I'm having trouble following you, I haven't slept in five months," Julie said.</p><p>He chuckled. "What's up?"</p><p>"We were-" she started to say when she heard noise in the background and Alex shouting at someone.</p><p>"No, no, no, Bobby don't-" and then something crashing.</p><p>"Is everything okay?" Julie asked.</p><p>Alex just sighed and she could practically see him rolling his eyes. "Explain to me how two twenty eight year olds can cause more chaos than one five year old. Explain."</p><p>"Is the roommate situation not working out?" Julie asked amused.</p><p>"I know they're gonna leave eventually, but I feel the damage cannot be undone," he said. "Bobby has been teaching Eric what pranks are, so this has been fun. And Willie found out that Reggie has been sneaking him cookies because he can’t say no and he wants to establish himself as the cool uncle."</p><p>"Great, Luke's been having a parental crisis over the girls going to college," she said.</p><p>"He's aware that one of them can’t hold her head up without help, right?"</p><p>"I'm not a hundred percent sure..."</p><p>"Great," Alex repeated. "What time should we come over?"</p><p>"Rose believes you're already late," she said with a smile.</p><p>"I mean, Reg is still asleep and Bobby's breaking our plates, but who cares about them, the rest of us will be there," he said and Julie distinctly heard the 'hey' in the background. "No hey," Alex said probably directed to Bobby, "I seriously love you both, but if you don't find a house during next week, I'm kicking you out."</p><p>"Julie! Can we move in with you?" she heard him ask.</p><p>"We're already staying with my dad," she said, "but if you don't mind sleeping in the old studio and waking up from a baby screaming at random hours during the night then sure, you're welcomed."</p><p>"How are you all homeless?" Alex wondered. "Like, we're in a successful band. We went on a tour. We have money, I know we do."</p><p>"I mean we found a nice place, but it wasn't perfect," Julie said thinking about the apartment they were thinking of getting.</p><p>"It was beautiful, but you secretly love staying back at your old house and you're comfortable there, so you're trying to prolong the inevitable," Bobby said.</p><p>"I am not, we are moving, we can't stay here forever," Julie defended herself even though Bobby was oddly perceptive at times and she hated that about him just as much as she loved it. "And anyway, when should we be expecting you?"</p><p>"In like... a couple of hours? Bobby's in love and doesn't want to wake Reggie up, but he also doesn't know what it means to have children who are looking forward to something."</p><p>"You're an asshole and I hate you," Bobby said.</p><p>"I swear to God, if Eric starts swearing because of you, I will ban you from this house."</p><p>Julie chuckled. "Just get the bickering over with and come over, okay? I've missed you," she said. With the kids and school and a baby and moving they hadn't had the time to all come together in a few weeks. It was weird, especially when Julie was used to seeing them almost every day. The band was still going - and going strong - but they'd been taking it a bit easier ever since Emily had been born. Julie loved nothing more than to sing her heart out with the boys, but she had not had a full peaceful night of sleep in five months and that was definitely not going to help her singing abilities.</p><p>"We've missed you too, Jules," Alex said. "Okay, a couple of hours tops, I promise you."</p><p>"We'll be waiting," she said with a smile.</p><p>She finished putting everything in the dishwasher and went upstairs to change. She passed by Carlos' room just as Luke came out with Emily.</p><p>"Everything okay? You didn't start sending out college applications yet?" she asked with a smirk.</p><p>"You're not funny," he said and leaned in to kiss her.</p><p>"Aw, but like a little bit," Julie said as she tickled Emily's side and she started giggling, squirming in Luke's hold. Julie kissed her cheek with a smile and went back to her room to get dressed.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Rose was first to the door the second the bell rang. She stood on her toes, trying to reach the handle so she could open it only for Julie to come up behind her and help her out. Rose moved to the side just as the door opened and jumped up and down excited, running forward to hug Reggie's legs. He swayed a bit backwards from the force of it, Bobby placing a hand on his back to steady him.</p><p>"Hi!" she shouted, squeezing him tight and before Reggie had even had time to say hi back, she'd moved over and hugged Bobby too.</p><p>"Someone's excited," Bobby said as he picked her up.</p><p>"Me!" Rose said with a grin, making Julie chuckle.</p><p>"Me too," Julie said, "maybe we should have agreed on shared custody with Alex and Willie."</p><p>"Alex will take you up on it if you suggest it," Reggie said as they walked in and he squeezed her into a hug.</p><p>"Nah, he loves us too much to actually throw us out," Bobby said walking in after him and kissing Julie on top of her head.</p><p>"Speaking of whom" - she closed the door behind them - "where are they?"</p><p>"Yes," Rose agreed impatiently, looking behind them at the closed door as if Alex, Willie and Eric were going to suddenly materialize inside the house.</p><p>"I know you like Eric more than us but you will have to wait a few more minutes because we left earlier," Bobby said looking at Rose with a smile.</p><p>"I like you!" she tried to defend herself.</p><p>"He's joking, baby," Julie said, squeezing her shoulder lightly just as Bobby let her down.</p><p>"Oh, oh, uncle Reggie come, I have to show you something," Rose suddenly remembered and grabbed Reggie's hand, dragging him with her up the stairs.</p><p>Julie turned around, seeing Bobby look after them with a smile. She raised an eyebrow, but didn't question the matter any further. "When I called, Reggie was asleep and you were breaking plates, how did you get here earlier?"</p><p>"You have two kids, Jules, you know how long it takes for you to actually leave the house when you have somewhere to go," he said slinging an arm over her shoulders as they walked in the living room. "Where's the band's second best guitarist?"</p><p>"You really need to stop talking about yourself in the third person, it's getting confusing," Luke said, coming over from the balcony, holding Emily.</p><p>"Aww, look at you," Bobby cooed at Emily as he went closer, ignoring Luke. "You look so much like your mom, you got so lucky..."</p><p>"Well, fuck you too, Bob," Luke said.</p><p>"Wait, we can swear in this house?" Bobby looked in between Luke and Julie.</p><p>"No!" Julie said pointing at both of them. "Emily might not understand what you're saying, but if Rose catches you and asks 'what does that mean, daddy?' I am not gonna help you out."</p><p>"I would never," Luke said with a smile. "Where's everyone else?"</p><p>"Your daughter confiscated my boyfriend and the guys-" Bobby was cut off by the doorbell.</p><p>"Are here!" Julie said just as excited as Rose was and moved to open the door. "Hello!" she said cheerfully just as Eric let Alex's hand go and ran in to hug her. "Hi, Eric!"</p><p>"Hi!" he said excited and went in to hug Luke too, although more careful seeing he was still holding Emily.</p><p>Luke smiled and ruffled his hair. "Hey, Eric. Rose is upstairs," he added and it was enough for Eric to disappear up the stairs.</p><p>"Aaand he forgets we're here until they get hungry," Willie said as he and Alex got in, Julie closing the door behind them. </p><p>"Well, he's been looking forward to this for the past three days, I think it's justified," Alex said with a smile.</p><p>"Okay, did you decide to move in here instead? Because Carlos' room belongs to Rose now, you know that, right?" Reggie asked as he came down the stairs, but before Julie could one hundred percent deny that - and have some doubts of her own while doing it - he spotted Luke with Emily. "Oh my God, look at the baby," he said, ignoring everyone else and going straight for them.</p><p>"And now we've lost Reg too," Bobby said. "Hey, do you have any coffee?"</p><p>"Didn't you already drink like a bowl of coffee?" Willie asked. "I remember because Alex had his 'I can't believe these people are my family' face."</p><p>"Well, I'm not used to waking up at 7 every day, weekends included, I need something stronger," Bobby said as they followed Julie in the kitchen. Luke and Reggie stayed back with Reggie cooing at Emily who was just excited to get extra attention.</p><p>"You can always find an apartment you know," Julie said as she poured him some of the coffee they'd already made.</p><p>"You think we haven't been looking?" Bobby asked.</p><p>"No," Alex muttered.</p><p>"Shut up." Bobby pointed at him and took the mug from Julie. "It's not our fault we were evicted and it's not our fault we can't find a nice place. You know our standards are not even that high."</p><p>"I got to give him that, we haven't been able to settle on a place either," Julie said.</p><p>"You have two kids," Alex said.</p><p>"Well, you don't know what the future holds," Willie offered and Bobby choked on his coffee making Alex snicker.</p><p>"Alex has groupies in Eric's school," Bobby said through a cough trying to get the attention off of him as they walked back in the living room.</p><p>Alex groaned ducking his head, while Willie chuckled with a grin as they sat down on the couch next to Luke and Reggie who was lying back a little and had Emily sitting on his belly. "Eric told everyone his dad is famous and plays music," he explained.</p><p>"But Willie has been picking him up from school so everyone's been trying to figure out where they might know him from," Alex added.</p><p>"And then Alex showed up and some people did recognize him and that was the beginning of the end," Willie said even though he was smiling. "So now he has a fanclub."</p><p>"Maybe we should do a show just for kindergarteners, start getting back on track," Julie said with chuckle taking the armchair on their left while Bobby sat across from her on their other side.</p><p>"Of course, our prime fanbase," Bobby said.</p><p>"I would do it," Reggie said, using a baby voice while looking at Emily who grabbed his index fingers and waved them around while making incoherent sounds. Reggie nodded his head as if he understood what she was trying to say.</p><p>"Great, Reggie and Bobby are in," Luke said.</p><p>"Which part of what I said made you think I'm in?" Bobby asked.</p><p>"You're not seriously going to tell Reggie no, are you?" Julie asked as if personally offended.</p><p>Reggie gave Bobby a look that had been described many times as the <em>Patterson puppy dog eyes </em>and had been perfected by a couple of them. Emily turned around to see what had grabbed Reggie's attention and well, she didn't need to try to be cute.</p><p>"You can't look at me like that while also holding a baby, that's illegal," Bobby said.</p><p>"That is actually true, babies have power," Julie agreed.</p><p>"Are you serious though? About getting back on track?" Alex asked her. Everyone had their little side projects, but the future of the band as a whole meant they all had to be available at the same time. Julie had really missed singing with the guys on stage, it'd been a while...</p><p>"I mean kind of, if you're all on board," she said. "I'm not saying go on tour, but I'm not saying no to gigs either. I know Flynn's been making a list with all the options we have, the phone's been ringing a lot lately... But we do need a few rehearsals first because I've only been singing lullabies for the past five months and I don't even know what I'd sound like anymore."</p><p>"You sound amazing, Jules, like you always do because your voice is a gift to the world," Luke said with no hesitation.</p><p>"I could be tone deaf and you'd still think I was the greatest thing that happened to the world," she said with a small smile.</p><p>"Uhm, if it helps, the rest of us are not in love with you and we still think you have the voice of an angel," Willie said.</p><p>Julie grinned. It wasn’t like she thought she'd forgotten how to sing, but she knew she needed to keep practicing to stay on top of her game. And she hadn't really practiced in a while, she would need some work.</p><p>They started talking about the offers Flynn had been getting as their official manager now and how they could go ahead with it. Emily on the other hand had suddenly noticed and gotten interested in Reggie's cell phone that was currently next to him on the couch and was trying to dive in and reach it.</p><p>"No, that's definitely not a toy," Reggie said as he grabbed it to take it away, but Emily still followed his hand around and reached her hands over to take it. Reggie tossed it over to Bobby who caught it and let it fall beside him on the cushion, vanishing it from Emily's line of sight.</p><p>Julie had already been reaching for the stuffed penguin on the coffee table when Emily realized the phone had magically disappeared and started crying. </p><p>"No, no, no, don't cry," Reggie said, panicking in the turn of events, just as Julie tossed the penguin to Luke next to him.</p><p>"Em, Emmy, hey," he said, waving the penguin in front of her. Emily's cries quietened down, momentarily distracted by the new object. She thankfully deemed it equally worthy of her time and attention, reaching out for it, completely forgetting she was upset a second ago. She turned back to Reggie, waving he penguin around, pushing it against him.</p><p>"Hey, you love me again!" Reggie said with a grin.</p><p>"She didn't stop loving you just because you took your phone away," Julie said with a small smile. She also didn't miss the look of pure adoration Bobby was giving him even though Reggie was oblivious, his attention on Emily. Bobby noticed her watching him and she raised an eyebrow at him, but he just shook his head looking away. She once again chose not to say anything.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Julie and Bobby were picking up the empty pizza boxes from the living room while Rose and Eric were animatedly telling Alex and Willie a story Julie hadn't really been able to follow. Luke was in the kitchen making Emily's bottle while she had attached herself to Reggie who didn't seem bothered by the fact which just made Julie smile.</p><p>"Gimme," she said, nodding at the boxes in Bobby's hands, "I'll take them inside."</p><p>"No, I want to help," he said, staring at her right in the eyes. She was momentarily confused, but let it go since it didn't really change much. Luke came in just as they were walking out, giving Reggie the bottle so he could feed Emily.</p><p>Julie let the boxes on the kitchen counter, Bobby piling the rest of them on top.</p><p>"Okay, dude, what's happening? Is your biological clock ticking? Do you want a baby?" she asked quietly, not wanting to be overheard in the living room.</p><p>"What?" Bobby looked at her like she was crazy.</p><p>"Reggie hasn't let go of Emily all day and every time you look at them I'm pretty sure the rest of us disappear."</p><p>"Are we going to pretend that you don't look at Luke like he's the sun or something every time he's being a good dad?" he asked.</p><p>"Hey, don't come at me, I have two kids with him, I'm allowed to gush over them being adorable," Julie said.</p><p>"Yeah, so? Reg's adorable, your kid is adorable, together they're overwhelming." He shrugged as if though it wasn't a big deal, but he wouldn't meet her in the eye.</p><p>"Oh my God, you want a kid!" Julie whisper yelled. "You'd be such a great dad..."</p><p>"Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves here," he said with a snicker.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Can you even like, imagine me as a dad?"</p><p>"Could you have imagined any of us as a parent?"</p><p>"You and Lex definitely, you've been keeping the rest of us alive for a while now," he said with a serious nod.</p><p>Julie rolled her eyes. "If all you need is my validation, let me tell you, I think you'd be a great dad. And Reg would also be a great dad. And when all of our kids are older they could be in a band together, how great would that be?"</p><p>"Okay, first of all, you need some time away from Luke, second, I... I'm not really parent material. And I wouldn't want a kid to have to pay for that."</p><p>Julie sighed. "Look, there is no magic word I say to take all your insecurities away, but I don't think they ever completely go away. I mean I still worry about whether I'm being a good mother and whether I'm doing everything right. You really need to talk this out with Reg, but if it's something you both want, don't let your insecurities get in the way. Why do you think we let you babysit Rose and Eric all the time?"</p><p>"Because we're your only willing friends who live close enough?"</p><p>Julie chuckled, hitting his arm lightly. "Because you're great with them and you love them. And you know, all parents make mistakes, you can't be perfect." She gave him a smile. "Talk to Reggie, see if you're on the same page. I mean, I'm pretty sure he's gonna take Emily with you when you leave, but we kind of love her here so you need to get your own child, okay?"</p><p>Bobby breathed a laugh at that.</p><p>"Hey."</p><p>Both of them jumped at Alex's voice and turned to see him standing on the other side of the counter.</p><p>"What the fuck, Alex?" Bobby said.</p><p>"I literally just walked up here," Alex said.</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"I'm thirsty! Are you okay?" Alex asked confused.</p><p>"He's great," Julie said with a smile.</p><p>"You’re talking about their future kid?" Alex continued nonchalantly.</p><p>"What?" Bobby turned to him dumbfounded.</p><p>"Willie has been leaving our adoption agency's brochures all around the apartment, but none of them have taken the hint," Alex told Julie.</p><p>"How did <em>you</em> know?" Bobby looked at him suspiciously.</p><p>Alex's expression softened. "The two of you have been living with us for the past two and a half weeks and even all through the chaos, you’ve been helping around a lot." He smiled. "At first I figured you’re just good with kids, it’s why we ask you to babysit, but you both look so happy when you’re with any of them. Oh, Julie, that reminds me, Reggie's probably taking Emily with him when he leaves."</p><p>"Yeah, I figured as much," Julie said with a chuckle.</p><p>"Talk with Reg," Alex said, filling the glass he’d been holding with water, "you’d make good parents." He smiled as he walked back to the living room.</p><p>Julie moved to follow him, taking Bobby with her. They were almost rounding up the corner to the living room when Bobby stopped with a groan ready to go back to the kitchen.</p><p>"For fuck's sake, Jules, there’s a baby sleeping on him," he whisper yelled at her. "I’m just a man, I can only take so much."</p><p>Julie chuckled and grabbed his hand, dragging him with her. Although she had to admit, sleeping babies were adorable.</p><p>"Tell them, tell them!" Rose and Eric suddenly turned to Willie excited as the three of them came back.</p><p>"Tell us what?" Julie asked more quietly just as Luke took Emily from Reggie, who would have probably just stood there with a baby sleeping on his chest for as long as he had to, and took her upstairs to her crib.</p><p>"Papa had the greatest idea," Eric started.</p><p>"It's true, I have a lot of those," Willie agreed with a smile.</p><p>"Ooh, what idea?" Reggie asked as he finally sat up on the couch.</p><p>Willie looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You were sitting right here," he said.</p><p>"Oh, I have no idea what anyone’s been saying for at least the past half hour, there was a <em>baby</em> here," Reggie said, one hundred percent serious.</p><p>"Okay," Willie said amused, "I was just thinking, don’t you have all your old instruments here in the studio?"</p><p>"Some of the new too because we apparently live here now," Julie said.</p><p>"If you’re afraid whether you still got it you can always do a test run. We haven’t heard all of you play live in a while."</p><p>"Mom has the bestest voice ever," Rose said. "And one time, Emily was crying at night and no one could sleep, but then mom <em>and</em> dad sang something <em>together</em> and it was also the best!"</p><p>"Hear that? We are the best," Luke said, coming up from behind Julie and wrapping his arms around her.</p><p>"Dad doesn’t sing much, but he should," Eric said.</p><p>"I one hundred percent agree," Willie said looking at Alex who just shook his head with an amused smile.</p><p>"I miss the studio..." Reggie said with a wistful smile. "And this house... Have you thought about staying here?"</p><p>"What about my dad, Reg?" Julie asked.</p><p>"Ray is the best dad ever, it would be fine," he said. And sure, Julie loved this house and so did Luke - he'd spent more than a few months staying at the studio before he and his mom had talked things out. Rose only remembered the room belonged to Carlos when she had to pick up her toys from the floor and Emily... well, Emily really liked one of the fluffy pillows on the couch so that was probably enough for her.</p><p>But they'd found an apartment that looked really nice. And they were going to get it. Maybe it wasn't perfect but what were the chances they found the perfect place?</p><p>"We should actually wait for him if we're going to do this, someone needs to look after Emily," Julie said. He shouldn't be too long anyway.</p><p>She felt a bit nervous even though she really didn't have any reason to be. No one was going to judge her if she didn't sound perfect and to be honest, the guys would probably praise her voice anyway. But it'd still been a while since she'd last done this and if they were going to start getting back on track, they needed to rehearse. They'd gone through the same thing four years ago after she'd given birth to Rose and she'd easily slipped back to usual.</p><p>But then Emily had come along with a harder second pregnancy and doctor's orders to stay in bed. And then she was born and well, Julie and Luke had a newborn and a toddler to take care of which was just a tiny bit exhausting. They were incredibly lucky to have a great support system to help them, but it still meant they hadn't really had the time to completely dive back into the band. Luke didn't seem that worried and maybe she was overreacting too, but as much as Rose said they were the best, she really wanted to hear it for herself.</p><p>Her dad came back a little while later and happily sent everyone off to the studio to do a test run.</p><p>They all filed inside, Rose and Eric running around to explore the chaos. Most of Julie and Luke's things were stuffed in boxes and kept in the studio so they wouldn't be in the way. They'd taken a lot of it out, the kids' stuff mostly, but they really needed to move into somewhere to finally settle in.</p><p>"Cosy," Bobby commented.</p><p>"Half of your belongings are overflowing our guest room," Willie said.</p><p>"Irrelevant," he dismissed it.</p><p>"Okay, so, guitars are up on the loft and if we move these out of the way," Julie said as Bobby and Reggie climbed up the stairs and Luke, Alex and Willie helped her move some of the boxes to the side.</p><p>"Aww, I've missed my old drums," Alex said when they were finally uncovered.</p><p>They started setting up, trying to make as much space as they could because someone was bound to fall into some boxes and everything would go down. Julie's money was on Reggie or Luke.</p><p>She moved to open up the piano cover, wiping some of the dust away. No one really played anymore now that they'd left - it wasn't like they could take the piano with them - and even though it made sense, Julie still felt some kind of melancholy about it. It was where her mom used to play, where she'd learnt how to play, where she and the guys had formed a band... </p><p>"Dad, look what I found!" Eric went running to Alex who was sitting behind the drums, putting everything in place. He looked up to see Eric holding a pair of drumsticks out for him.</p><p>"I really needed those, thank you!" Alex said with a smile, taking them from him and spinning one around in his hand, probably out of habit. Both Eric and Rose looked at him at awe, making Julie smile.</p><p>Soon enough they had everything in place, Rose and Eric taking a seat on the couch next to Willie and waiting excitedly for them to start playing. In the past three years - ever since Alex and Willie had adopted Eric when he was two - the two of them hadn't really heard them playing live anywhere professionally. All of them sang and they would definitely get together and sing - Luke seemed to always have a guitar available - but this? An actual live performance with all of them was definitely new for them.</p><p>"What do we start with?" Luke asked already vibrating in place. This was definitely his element. All of their element.</p><p>"Well, we're here, so we should go way way back," Reggie said.</p><p>"Agreed," Alex raised a drumstick.</p><p>"I've got you," Julie said, fixing the mic in front of her and moving her hands back down, over the keys. She took a deep breath and started playing the intro, knowing the guys would follow.</p><p>
  <em>"Hearts on fire<br/>
We're no liars<br/>
So we say what we wanna say<br/>
I'm awakened<br/>
No more faking<br/>
So we push all our fears away...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don't know if I'll make it 'cause I'm falling under<br/>
Close my eyes, and feel my chest beating like thunder..."</em>
</p><p>She smiled as she moved into the pre chorus, always excited for the moment the guys joined her in any song.</p><p>
  <em>"I wanna fly<br/>
Come alive<br/>
Watch me shine..."</em>
</p><p>She grabbed the mic, getting up from the piano bench to move right in the middle, always careful not to stand in front of Alex when they were all standing on the same level. Luke joined her on the chorus.</p><p>
  <em>"I got a spark in me<br/>
Hands up if you can see<br/>
And you're a part of me<br/>
Hands up if you're with me<br/>
Now 'til eternity<br/>
Hands up if you believe<br/>
Been so long, and now we're finally free..."</em>
</p><p>Julie could feel the rush of performing, even if it was just friends and family. Singing and especially singing with the band, always felt like a magical experience.</p><p>
  <em>"We're all bright now<br/>
What a sight now<br/>
Coming out like we're fireworks<br/>
Marching on proud<br/>
Turn it up loud<br/>
'Cause now we know what we're worth..."</em>
</p><p>Luke rushed to his mic from where he was vibing with Bobby to harmonize with her. And really, Julie had sung with Luke more times than she could count, but she felt like she was never ready for the feeling that consumed her every time they were together on stage. Yes they had chemistry, but Julie couldn't really describe it, it felt like more than that. Music connected them with each other and the audience.</p><p>
  <em>"We know we can make it we're not falling under<br/>
Close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I wanna fly<br/>
Come alive<br/>
Watch me shine..."</em>
</p><p>They moved back into the chorus, this time Reggie, Alex and Bobby providing vocals for them.</p><p>
  <em>"I got a spark in me<br/>
Hands up if you can see<br/>
And you're a part of me<br/>
Hands up if you're with me<br/>
Now 'til eternity<br/>
Hands up if you believe<br/>
Been so long, and now we're finally free..."</em>
</p><p>Reggie ran over to share Luke's mic with him.</p><p>
  <em>"I got a spark in me<br/>
Hands up if you can see<br/>
And you're a part of me<br/>
Hands up if you're with me<br/>
Now 'til eternity<br/>
Hands up if you believe<br/>
Been so long, and now we're finally free..."</em>
</p><p>Julie turned completely around, getting closer to Luke as she sang her part.</p><p>
  <em>"I got a spark in me."<br/>
</em>
</p><p>She moved her mic towards him as he got closer too. The guys liked to joke that the world disappeared when they sang like that to each other. Well, what was Julie supposed to do? Deny the truth?</p><p>
  <em>"I got a spark in me."</em>
</p><p>Julie smiled as she kept going.</p><p>
  <em>"And you're a part of me."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"And you're a part of me."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Now 'til eternity."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Now 'til eternity."</em>
</p><p><em>"Been so long, and now we're finally free!" </em>Julie belted out the last note pleasantly surprised that her voice didn't even waver.</p><p>
  <em>"I got a spark in me<br/>
Hands up if you can see<br/>
And you're a part of me<br/>
Hands up if you're with me<br/>
Now 'til eternity<br/>
Hands up if you believe<br/>
Been so long, and now we're finally free!"</em>
</p><p>The guys kept the vocals going as did Julie, giving it all towards the end.</p><p><em>"Finally free, yeah, yeah!<br/>
</em> <em>Oh, been so long, and now we're finally free!"</em></p><p>The guys eased up and so did she as she sang her last part, fading along with the music.</p><p>
  <em>"Finally free<br/>
Yeah..."</em>
</p><p>The silence only lasted a couple of seconds before the room erupted in applause and Rose jumped from the couch to run in and hug her. "Bestest voice!" she said excited and before Julie could say anything, she and Eric started talking so fast over each other about how great the song was and how great they all were and how <em>mom and dad sing so great together </em>and Julie couldn't wipe the grin off her face.</p><p>She turned to look at Luke who smiled at her.</p><p>"Gift to the world," he said like it was the only possible answer here. Julie chuckled.</p><p>"Sing more, mommy!" Rose jumped up and down. And well, Julie couldn't really say no to that, could she?</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>"And we agreed with Eric that when we grow up a little we're gonna be in a band too and I'm gonna sing like you and he's gonna play drums like uncle Alex," Rose was saying as Julie tucked her in. "Oh, oh and daddy can teach me the guitar because we need a guitar!"</p><p>"That's excellent thinking," Julie said with a smile as she sat beside her. "Did you think of a name?"</p><p>"Not yet," Rose answered with a yawn, her eyes already half closed.</p><p>"Well that's okay, you still have time. You know, aunt Flynn is very good at coming up with band names, I'm sure she will help you."</p><p>"Can we call her? It's very important."</p><p>"We'll call her in the morning because right now it's really late and someone looks a bit sleepy to me," she said booping Rose's nose, making her giggle.</p><p>"But first thing tomorrow we will call aunt Flynn."</p><p>"First thing," Julie agreed as she leaned down and kissed her head. "Goodnight," she said.</p><p>"Goodnight," Rose said, but before Julie could get up she stopped her. "Mommy?"</p><p>"Yeah?"</p><p>"I like it here. Can’t we just stay?"</p><p>Julie faltered a bit, not sure what to say. She liked it too, but it wasn't like they could just stay there forever. She was lucky she didn't have to answer when Rose's eyes slipped closed and her breaths evened out. Maybe she'd have an answer by tomorrow. Or Rose would have forgotten about it and they could start hyping up the new place they were thinking about getting.</p><p>She walked out of the room quietly, closing the door behind her. She went over to her own, barely hearing Luke singing the lullaby version of <em>Finally Free</em>. They'd discovered in these past four years that any <em>Julie and the Phantoms </em>song could be turned into a lullaby if they needed it to. You can't say they weren't original.</p><p>She stood on the doorway just in time to see Luke putting Emily inside her crib. <em>Let's pray for a full night of sleep. </em>Julie wished she could fall asleep at 8 pm like her daughters.</p><p>Luke looked up and she nodded for him to follow her on the hallway. He left the door slightly ajar and turned around to kiss Julie.</p><p>"Hi," he said with a smile.</p><p>"Hey." She smiled back. "Are you ready for this?"</p><p>"For what?" Luke asked confused.</p><p>"Rose and Eric are going to be in a band," Julie said. "Rose will sing and she wants you to teach her the guitar because a band needs a guitar."</p><p>"Oh my God," Luke whispered seemingly shocked. "I think I might cry."</p><p>"Not right here though because Emily will join in," Julie said as they moved further away and eventually down the stairs.</p><p>"This is a pinnacle moment in our lives," Luke said, "write down the date, we need to celebrate it."</p><p>"What happened?" Julie's dad asked, coming from the kitchen.</p><p>"Rose and Eric are going to be in band," Luke said with a grin. "That’s parenting done right, right?"</p><p>Her dad chuckled. "It sure is, mijo. Hey, I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you two."</p><p>"About what?" Julie asked as they followed him to the living room and sat down on the couch.</p><p>"You’ve been staying here for almost three weeks," he started.</p><p>"Oh my God, dad, we're sorry, we know it’s been too long, we just weren’t sure about the apartment-" Julie started to ramble when her dad stopped her.</p><p>"No, no, mija, none of that. You know I love having you here, all of you. This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while now and especially with the move coming," he said. "You love staying here and Rose is this close to start redecorating Carlos' room and you also have the studio, even the piano..."</p><p>"Wait, dad, you’re not saying..." Julie started.</p><p>"I'm saying that if someone’s going to move out of this house, it should be me," he said.</p><p>"Woah, Ray, we can’t throw you out of your own house," Luke said.</p><p>"You’re not throwing me out, Luke, I’m leaving on my own." He smiled. "Look, this house is huge for just one person and it does get lonely sometimes. You four seem happy here and the house is lively again and with the rehearsal today... It felt like old times. If you want to, I think you should stay."</p><p>Julie was truly at a loss for words. She definitely did not expect that turn of events.</p><p>"Dad, I- We can’t-"</p><p>"You can and you should," he stopped her.</p><p>"Where are you even going to go?"</p><p>"I’ve already found a place, your tia helped me look. And it’s close enough in case you need any help."</p><p>"I... I don’t know what to say," Julie said.</p><p>"Julie, this is the place you and Carlos grew up, and it did house three teenage boys for a while too," he added looking back at Luke with a smile, "it holds a lot of memories. I think it’s time you added some new ones."</p><p>Julie had teared up a bit when she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her dad. "Thank you," she whispered.</p><p>"You don’t have to thank me, mija."</p><p>"Can <em>I</em> thank you? Because you’ve done so much for me ever since I was sixteen and I don’t think I can ever repay you," Luke said.</p><p>"You never had to repay me for anything, Luke. Seeing you two happy and those two girls upstairs happy is enough for me."</p><p>"Stop trying to make me cry," Julie said, making her dad chuckle as he wrapped his arms around her tighter.</p><p>She was trying to process everything, trying to understand what just happened while already building their lives in this house. And if Rose and Eric really went through with the band idea they would have the studio to work in and that just sounded beautiful on its own.</p><p>"Would this be Emily's room?" Julie wondered out loud quietly later, after she and Luke had lied down.</p><p>"I feel obligated to say no, that window's way too easy to climb through," Luke said.</p><p>"You twisted your ankle twice, I wouldn’t call that too easy," Julie said.</p><p>"I don’t want weird teenagers climbing in," he said and she had to turn around to muffle her chuckle on the pillow.</p><p>"Where would we be if you didn’t climb through my window every now and then?" she said with a smile.</p><p>"All I know is that Ray could have called the cops on me and it would have been one hundred percent justified."</p><p>"And then you talked me into being in a band with you and three other teenage boys and I said yes, awful truly," Julie said, nodding her head and trying to remain serious.</p><p>"Well, that came first, but that was the best part," he said, "your voice should be heard."</p><p>"And now we have two kids, I’d say we're winning in life," Julie said.</p><p>"And we're not homeless!"</p><p>"Another win."</p><p>"And Bobby and Reg can probably move in in the place we were gonna get before they drive Alex any more crazy," Luke added. "There’s already more room than they need and they can turn one of the rooms into a nursery."</p><p>"You knew?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>Luke chuckled. "Bobby's not as subtle as he thinks he is and Reggie was about to adopt Emily today. I can catch up on things here and there."</p><p>Emily made a little noise and both Julie and Luke froze in hopes that she wasn’t actually awake. Julie raised her head and saw her stirring slightly only to clutch her penguin closer to her in her sleep. They both sighed in relief.</p><p>"Let's just sleep until we are awoken at 2 am," Julie whispered, snuggling in closer to Luke.</p><p>"Ooh sounds like fun," he said.</p><p>Julie breathed out happily as she closed her eyes, already drifting off in Luke's arms. She felt him kissing the top of her head making her smile.</p><p>"Love you," he said.</p><p>"I love you too," she said before completely relaxing and finally falling asleep.</p>
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